Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UK Membership of EU

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 14 March (HL6444), (1) whether the European Commission, the Committee of Permanent Representatives, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice are all legally bound to adhere to the deal agreed at the February European Council before the Treaties are changed to reflect its decisions, and (2) when they expect that Treaty change to take place.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The International Law Decision contains legally binding and irreversible provisions specifying how certain articles in the EU Treaties should be interpreted. That interpretation will apply to all EU institutions, including the European Parliament and the European Commission. The Court of Justice of the European Union has confirmed that it is required to take such Decisions into account when interpreting the Treaties. The Committee of Representatives is composed of officials representing Member States, all of which are legally bound by the International Law Decision. The President of the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament have endorsed the Decision and committed themselves to facilitate the passage of the relevant EU secondary legislation for those aspects that require implementing legislation. The Decision includes a legally binding and irreversible commitment that the Member States will at the next opportunity, and subject to compliance with their respective constitutional requirements and the procedures in the EU Treaties, amend the EU Treaties to address key UK concerns.

UK Membership of EU

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 14 March (HL6444), whether future Governments of the other EU member states are bound by the deal agreed at the February European Council.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Decision of the Heads of State of Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016 was agreed to by all Member States and is a legally binding International Law Decision that has been registered with the UN as an international treaty.

Turkey: Press Freedom

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last raised the importance of the freedom of the press with the government of Turkey, in particular in the context of Turkey's application for EU membership and other current negotiations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), did so on 7 March when he met Turkey’s Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, and underlined the importance of protections for a free press and human rights in Turkey. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), set out the UK’s concerns on freedom of expression when he met his Turkish counterpart on 12 March. The Minister for Europe, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), discussed media freedoms and rule of law issues when he met Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Şimşek on 12 March. We continue to underline the importance of freedom of expression and all fundamental freedoms as part of our broader dialogue with the Turkish government.

Israel: Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the right of return of Syrian refugees who were originally displaced from their homes in Palestine when the state of Israel was formed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this issue. It is the British Government’s policy that a final status agreement between the two parties should include a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees.

Department for International Development

UN High-level Panel on Access to Medicines

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the mandate of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines and its potential to improve access to affordable and quality medicines across the world.

Baroness Verma: The UK is committed to ensuring access to low cost, effective medicines in the developing world, providing a range of other significant inputs to increasing access to essential medicines. A new £1 billion fund – the Ross Fund - was recently announced with the aim of developing, testing and delivering a range of new products to help combat the world’s most serious diseases, such as malaria, Ebola and TB in developing countries. We support the provision of essential medicines and other health products through innovative global partnerships such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNITAID, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). We work to strengthen systems weaknesses, such as weak supply chains or poor procurement, which deter private investment, keep medicines prices high or lead to misuse or waste of medicines. We also place a great emphasis on research and development of new vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for conditions that affect millions of poor people. For example, the UK is a leading investor in public-private Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), designed to stimulate research and development (R&D) where market incentives are insufficient. We support the aims of the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. For it to fulfil its potential to improve access to affordable and quality medicines it will need to take a balanced approach, building and urge them to build on the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action (including underlying in-depth reports and discussions), and engaging withe existing global partnerships, and use its influence to galvanise Member States, public and private sectors around a common approach to this important issue.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual cost to the UK of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; which ten countries have benefited most financially from the scheme; and which countries have performed best in terms of debt servicing and repayment.

Baroness Verma: To date 36 countries have benefited from the HIPC Initiative. As a result, many developing countries have seen a marked improvement in their debt position and growth over the last 15 years. The recipients that have benefited most by committed volume are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Uganda.Many countries saw substantial reductions in their debt servicing as a result of HIPC debt relief. The largest reductions in terms of the ratio of debt service to exports were Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and, Sierra Leone which all saw a fall of more than 10%.

*No heading*

Lord Cashman: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of including representatives from the Department for International Development in discussions and representation at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

Baroness Verma: The UK will send a delegation to the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to combat discrimination and violence against LGB&T people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work. DFID is assessing the benefits of including representatives from the department at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference through discussion with key lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) organisations and with other government departments. The Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference will provide an opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGB&T people worldwide.

Ministry of Justice

Joanna Dennehy

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much legal aid has been, and is likely to be, paid to Hugh Southey QC and the solicitors representing Joanna Denneby in her claim that segregation in jail breaches her human rights.

Lord Faulks: A civil legal aid certificate was granted to the solicitors to complete work within the scope of the certificate, up to a maximum value of £15,000. The Legal Aid Agency have not granted authority for a QC to be instructed under the legal aid certificate to represent Joanna Dennehy in this case, therefore the instructed counsel will not be paid at QC rates. We robustly defend compensation claims as far as the evidence allows, and have successfully defended two thirds of prisoner claims over the last three years. As previously announced, we have launched a crackdown on claims against the Prison Service to identify opportunities to cut payouts and legal costs. Prisoners should not get legal aid unnecessarily, and we have already stopped funding for cases that can be dealt with through existing complaints processes.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Tree Planting

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether planting more trees in England is one of their policies and what assessment they have made of whether planting more trees constitutes a public benefit.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government is committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme. In July 2012 the Independent Panel on Forestry reported to the Government that England’s woods and forests provide significant public benefits, including through improving water quality and biodiversity as well as access and recreation. The Government recognised these benefits in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January of 2013 which included the response to the Independent Panel Report.

Litter

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical role they have played in the Clean for the Queen initiative.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Clean for the Queen campaign, organised by Country Life and Keep Britain Tidy, was the biggest community-led clean-up the country has ever seen. Keep Britain Tidy distributed 200,000 bags to collect litter; more than 1,500 Costa, McDonald’s, Greggs and KFC stores took part; events were held as far north as Isle of Lewis and as far south as Jersey and Guernsey; and more than 100,000 volunteers took part. We hope the campaign will help lead to a lasting legacy of a cleaner, tidier Britain.Defra supported the initiative with a grant of £9,500 towards providing resource packs to help support and encourage schools to participate in the campaign, and to support monitoring and evaluation of the impacts and effectiveness of the campaign. The Department for Communities and Local Government also spent £5,000 on promoting the initiative through Facebook. Having ownership of social media ensured the Department was able to engage with the public effectively, and be proactive and responsive when necessary in its social communications.In the lead-up to the initiative, Ministers from Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government wrote to every Member of Parliament with an English constituency and every English unitary and district local authority, to encourage their participation and leadership in this worthwhile campaign.Ministers from both Departments took part in litter pick events in London and Nuneaton. Staff from both Departments also took part in a joint litter pick in Westminster.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Localism Act 2011

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review the operation of the general power of competence contained in the Localism Act 2011.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Conservative-led coalition government gave a commitment that a post-implementation review of the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, including the provisions relating to the general power of competence, would be undertaken within three to five years following implementation. We will honour that commitment.

Social Services: Living Wage

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost to the public purse as a result of the introduction of the National Living Wage for social care workers in each of the seven authorities in the Northeast Local Economic Partnership area in the next financial year.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: No such estimate has been made. The Spending Review took account of the costs of implementing the National Living Wage and set out a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions. The Government outlined a package of support, providing up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019-20, to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents.

HM Treasury

Business: Taxation

Baroness Mobarik: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much (1) employer National Insurance, and (2) Corporation Tax, was paid in each year since 1997 by (a) companies employing over 250 people, and (b) small and medium-sized businesses.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Information about Corporation Tax receipts from 1997-98 to 2014-15 can be found in the table below. YearCorporation Tax Receipts (£bn)1997-9830.41998-9930.01999-0034.32000-0132.42001-0232.02002-0329.52003-0428.52004-0534.02005-0642.42006-0744.92007-0847.02008-0943.92009-1036.62010-1143.02011-1243.12012-1340.52013-1440.32014-1543.0  Information for Employers’ National Insurance Contributions and figures for Corporation Tax for companies employing over 250 people and small and medium-sized businesses is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office

Immigration

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the immigration assumption in the latest Office for National Statistics high migration projection of the population of the UK; by how much, in that projection, the population of the UK is projected to increase by 2029; and approximately what proportion of that projected increase will be the result of (1) future immigration, and (2) the children of future migrants.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Referral Letter
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